Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has today challenged Environment Minister Melissa Price to a debate, following the release of the harrowing biodiversity report on Monday.

“Melissa Price cannot keep hiding from her responsibilities to the environment or her accountability to voters. I challenge her to a debate in Adelaide on our environment prior to the election,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

The Liberal Party’s piecemeal promises on the environment will not undo the damage their billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies have done to our natural world, the Greens say.

“This is way too little, way too late from the Liberal Government. Today’s offering is a drop in the ocean to try and appease voters in Victoria rather than properly investing in environmental restoration and tackling dangerous climate change,” Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi,  has announced the Greens Environment Plan for New South Wales. The centrepiece of the Greens environment policy this election is a new Nature Fund, which would invest $2bn a year across the country to protect Australian flora and fauna and fund the development of recovery plans for at-risk species. The fund will also pay for qualified “environment managers”, and boost the number of Indigenous rangers. The plan is funded through a carbon price and making big polluters pay.

In New South Wales, the plan consists of:

The Greens’ are putting protecting and restoring our environment front and centre for the 2019 election campaign.

“The Government would have you believe that we face a choice between our economy and our environment,” Leader of the Australian Greens, Dr Richard Di Natale said.

“But we all know that in the long-term a strong economy and thriving community depend on a safe environment and stable climate.

The interim report from the Senate inquiry into Australia’s animal exti

Reports that the Federal Government has not kept track of threatened species recovery shows the need for the Greens’ proposal to strengthen environmental laws and establish a National Environment Commission.

“We need to get serious about threatened species recovery. The days of throwing small amounts of money at pet projects without any follow through must end. A National Environment Commission would ensure that threatened species recovery was prioritised and tracked,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The report of the Senate inquiry into mine rehabilitation was unable to come to majority recommendations, with the major parties clearly working in the interests of mining companies over the Australian people, say the Australian Greens.

The Tasmanian government is continuing to privatise public land through its secretive expressions of interest process, Greens Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim says.

“The first-stage approval of the Mount Roland cable car is effectively a sell-off and lock up of one of the most precious and beautiful parts of our state,” Senator McKim said.

“The Liberals have learned nothing from the backlash over Lake Malbena, and want to push ahead with their secretive process.”

“Tasmania’s reserves, national parks and the TWWHA are not theirs to sell.”

The Australian Greens are committed to real protection and restoration of our environment, backed up by solid investment and a plan to make Australia a climate hero, not a climate villain.

“The environment has been ignored by successive governments. We are seeing mass species extinction, habitat loss and the degradation of our national landscape and waterways. It is time to give the environment the protection and value it deserves,” Greens environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The ANU scientific report into water efficiency infrastructure is another piece of scathing evidence showing the Murray Darling Basin Plan is failing, the Greens say.

“Billions of dollars that was meant to be spent saving the River has instead been handed to big irrigators and has left the environment in collapse. This report from the ANU is yet more evidence that the Plan to save the river is not working,” Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.